8 Prolific Horror Films That Get Even More Interesting When Watched A Second Time

A good horror movie makes you sit and contemplate the world around you. It also makes you go “AAAAAH!”

But there are films good enough to make you go “AAAH” twice, without losing any of their effectiveness. whether its because the film’s scares prevented you from appreciating its nuances, the strong writing or just ‘coz. You need a take a second look at these.

#1 Get Out

The best-received horror movie in recent history, Get Out features the kind of horror that is unfortunately believable. Combining racism with body horror, the film shocks without any gore whatsoever. A young black man trapped in a home with an eerily “tolerant” white family – the movie ratches up the tension for a brilliant finale.

But the joy in a second look comes from the many instances of clever foreshadowing. Without being too obvious, the film practically spells out its entire plot way before it bothers revealing it. From a casual warning to stop smoking to appreciating a photographer’s talent, there’s plenty of lines that drip with meaning once you know how the film ends.

#2 The Sixth Sense

A film that put M Night Shyamalan on the map deserves a spot on the list. Considering the director’s deep and enduring love for twist endings. The reveal that Bruce Willis was *gasp* a ghost the whole damn time is pretty old now.

But when the film first released, it was thought to be the best goddamn reveal of all time. Making watching the entire movie almost compulsory. Watching how the ghost interacts with people and objects around him is way more interesting once you know his tragic fate.

#3 Creep

If there ever was a film that personifies discomfort, it’s this one. Watching once was bad enough, especially because of the performances of the two main actors who swing from sympathetic to batshit crazy every four minutes or so.

Is the man being filmed a complete psycho? Or is it the guy behind the camera? Once you know, the film is a much more relaxing watch. Mainly to appreciate the brilliant work being showcased by the two lead actors.

#4 The Others

Nicole Kidman is pretty likeable. Which is why casting her as a mother and caretaker is a surefire way of winning the audience’s sympathy. She’s defending her home from strangers and trying to keep her children safe.

But wait, no. She’s a psychotic woman who murdered her own children. Damn.

The entire film turns on its head when the audience is shown that the haunted were instead the haunters and makes it ripe for a second viewing. Every scare turns tragic as you realize it is simply the story of a small family who cannot come to terms with their own death.

#5 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

Sleep and they’ll get you. The body snatchers manifest as pods that will take over people turning them into unthinking, unemotional beings.

The films banks on paranoia more than anything else and it worked like a charm. with great acting and a much quieter idea of horror than most films, body snatchers was terrifying. Showing an unfeeling crowd that is out to get anyone who retains their own sense of identity.

Add in an ending twist that remains shocking to this day, its worth multiple watches if only to try catching up with the film as one character after another falls prey to the body snatchers without warning.

#6 Oculus

One of the more underrated on this list. Oculus takes the idea of a demonic mirror and takes it very seriously. Making the relatively stupid idea scary just by using an unconventional narrative and the talented Karen Gillian. The film shuttles back and forth between the traumatic childhood and adult resolution of two siblings.

Confusing, but ultimately comprehensible, a second watch helps soak in the film’s seamless merger of past and present using clever edits and striking imagery.

#7 The Shining

Every frame of this film oozes with tension and sleekly build to a climax that challenges us to take a second look. Filled with dramatic imagery the movie has much more subtle nods to its ultimate ending using clever tricks in set design as dialogues that echo just how crazy Jack really is.

Whether you choose to think of the film as metaphorical or literal, there’s no denying it’s staying power. Extra points for reading te book before coming back to the movie.

#8 American Psycho

Before Christian Bale was a psychotic trust fund baby who enacted his own justice on criminals in Batman, he was a psychotic trust fund baby who exacted his own justice on innocent people in American Psycho.

But the film’s conclusion is a little iffy. Because once Patrick Bateman goes on his murder spree you assume the people he killed are dead. But it turns out the whole thing might just have been a giant delusion. Did he really slice Jared Leto’s head in two with an axe? Or was it all in his messed up head?

Turning all the film’s most disturbing scenes into almost childish recreations of one nutjob’s fantasies.